# A look back at the RTDA and Vegas HERF



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

First off ......... WOW!!! 

That will be the overall theme of this thread. Seriously.

Just a warning right here at the onset, this will be a longer post. Long because I'm just going to spend my time rambling through the fun and debauchery that this past weekend held. I mean really, it was fun fun FUN!!!! 

So sit back and relax and enjoy this look back on the past weekend through the eyes of XXX.

So Friday. Friday, was a great day. Had to go into the office for a few but nothing too huge really. Went to pick up the rental car for the drive. Was excited as hell to hang out with all my buds again and meet up with some people I hadn't met before. Killer! So I get to the Rental place and they're all out of cars in the size I requested... damn I wanted that Dodge Charger again. Oh well. So he walks me out to the lot and all he's really got is this huge friggin' beast of a truck. One of the newer Dodge Ram 1500 Double Cab 4x4's. I look at him and said "You must be joking. You know how much in gas I'm going to spend on this thing?" So after much discussion (and a little bit of a discount) I hop into this beast to go pick up Echo, Mrs XXX. So we hit the road to fabulous Las Vegas. Quick call to Marc (OpusEx) to confirm we're on the way, and we're off!

Drive is going smooth, hit a lot of traffic at the Hoover Dam but it only put us back by about an hour. No biggie. So we get to Vegas, we're staying downtown at the Fitzgerald's Casino. It really is one of my favorite places in Vegas, downtown has a whole different side to it than the rest of the strip. It reminds me of what I think Old Vegas must feel like. Anyway, a quick stop by the hotel room D) and then head downstairs to meet up with the crew. 

So we stroll over to Binon's Casino to meet up with Jen (Filly), Bill (Mr. Filly), Marc (OpusEx), Jack (CigarTexan), and Gary (who I don't remember his handle). They're hanging out by the Sports Book while Marc throws some of his money down the toilet by betting horses LOL. Meet up with those guys and pass out some smokes. Nothing fancy.... yet. Just have to say, I've meet Marc, Jack, Jen and Bill before and they're all good people. Just fun people to be around. However it was my first time meeting Gary and he was just the man. Knowledgeable and just one hell of a nice guy. He's what I would call on the board a "Sleeper FOG", which is my term for the FOG's who most don't know that they are FOG's. The sneaky ones. 

So we all do our usual chatting and Echo gets to meet Marc and Jack and Gary.... (she had already met Jen and Bill... more on that later hehe) and then we head up to the top floor for dinner. Now Binon's has a great view of the city from their top floor steakhouse and dinner as usual was stellar. It was my first time trying fried Lobster and I was damn impressed. We sat around for a few hours just chatting and laughing and having a phenomenal time! Some memorable moments from that dinner was Marc and Jack's story on the origins of Palio for them.... LOL. Also, Jack snubbing the wine list as well as Jenny and Bill's take on some annoying types of BOTL's.... ROFL!

So well fed and feeling good we all headed downstairs and it was getting on in the evening, so we all decided to..... DRINK!!!! We got some drinks and some of us went outside to watch the live band as well as the Freemont Street Experience while others decided to stay at the table's and gamble a little. Some great cigars were lit up and I had to make a long trek down to the 4 Queens to find Mrs. XXX one of the yardstick glasses of Pina Colada. Jack and Bill did ok at the BlackJack table and Marc didn't do so well.  

After that we decided that we all needed to take a trip up the strip for a little fun. So a Limo was called and while we were waiting we got a call from Gabe and Gerry (GabeDog1 and Zemekone) who were just pulling into town. They decided to turn in early that night since they had a long day of work and driving and the Limo whisked the rest of us off to the Bellagio for some fun at the Petrossian Bar. Its an excellent little Piano Bar right at the entrance to the Bellagio. Nice and intimate with little couches and tables for people to gather round and enjoy themselves. 

We all sat around and ordered drinks and some amazing smokes were lit up. I'm talking some really good stuff! Even I participated a little in the enjoyment of the leaf. We also met up with Mike a good friend of Marc and Jack's who had come out for the show. Mike was a hell of a guy and he had me rolling with his sense of humor. At one point, Caviar was being considered as something to go along with the drinks and smokes but that idea was overruled when everyone got a look at their dessert menu. It was fun. I had a very good Mojito as well, damn those things rock! Both Mrs. XXX and I learned a ton from talking with Gary about Custom Rolled cigars amongst other things and it was generally just an amazing time with a great group of people. A memorable moment was Marc just writhing in pleasure on the sofa because the smokes, dessert, and coffee was so good that it was causing him to go into damn near convulsions LOL. He's a great guy! Got to talk with Jack a little more which is always a good thing and we enjoyed watching Jen pretty much fall asleep on the couch while we were all gabbing. Good times!

At that point the dawn was threatening to creep up on us so we all said our goodnights and headed back to our respective dens of iniquity.

Thus ends day #1. Day #2 continues in the next post. (Don't post till I'm done, ya bastages!)


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Day #2....... DAMN!

So I'm sleeping and I hear this annoying sound in the background. Its my phone ringing at its 7:30 in the morning... I just went to sleep a few ago so I ignore it. It turns out later it was Gabe (who wakes up at ungodly hours of the morning) wanting to know if I want to meet him downstairs to help him smoke his Davidoff Chateau Margaux. Sucks to be me.. can you imagine? Smoking a beautifully rolled Davi while sitting at Krispy Kreme in downtown Las Vegas.... :r So I hear another annoying sound.... yep, my phone again. However this time its noon and its Jen (Filly) calling to ask when we're getting our asses up and meeting them. So (painfully) we roll out of bed and get ready and head down to breakfast with Jen and Bill (The Filly's), Gabe (GabeDog1), and Gerry (Zemekone). 

Now for those that don't know the history with me and Gerry, let me tell you, there's quite a bit of it  Gerry is my bro and its always fun seeing him because whenever we do he always ends up wearing lingerie LOL. So it was good to see him. And Gabe, well what can I say about Gabe. Gabe is probably one of the nicest guys I've ever met.... that's why I give him so much shit 

Anyway it was good to see those guys again. So we all head over to the Freemont Casino for breakfast at their Paradise Cafe. Now breakfast is a relative word since its damn near 1 o'clock and the Buffett serves crab and shrimp... but it was still breakfast because they also served eggs and such. So we all sit around and just shoot the shit and enjoy ourselves and laugh and talk and eat good food. Everyone found out how Echo and I met, LOL. We learned a little bit about Jen's educational background and just generally discussed CS stuff. Let me tell all you newbs reading this, if you haven't gotten the chance to meet up with any BOTL's or SOTL's from CS... DO IT! There is so much more to be learned from dealing with knowledgeable people face to face.... plus Gerry might give you the low down on where to find Punch Ninfas HAHAHAHA!

Ok so in the course of the conversation I said I'd tell you how Echo knew Jen and Bill so well so here's the story. When Echo first met those two at the Las Vegas HERF I last November she accidentally mistook Bill (Mr. Filly) for me (XXX) and ended up groping him as he walked up behind her. Her excuse was that we were both wearing black shirts and jeans and were about the same height. Ok that was funny enough and when we met up with them again Jen gave her a good ribbing about that and we all had a good laugh and Echo swore she would never make that mistake again. However while walking to the elevator Bill stepped in beside Echo and once again she thought it was me (both in black shirts, however different pants) and leaned over to give me (Bill) a hug. :r So once again she embarrased herself and it sent all of us rolling as we realized what had happened. So there's the story, feel free to send a PM to Echo and give her a hard time.. LOL

So after breakfast we said our goodbye's to Jen and Bill since they had to leave later that day and Echo and I went and did our own thing for a little while. Later on that night we met up again for dinner with a few people. We met up with Gabe and Gerry, Marc, Jack, and Mike, and a few other people who are always good to see... Mark (HavanaAddict), Larry (CigarFlip), and Albert. We also met up with the Dogwatch Boys Bob and Dale who are just tremendously cool guys. It was seriously a pleasure meeting you guys and thank you for everything... also thanx for the shout out on the show the next morning  

So we were all at the Range SteakHouse at Harrah's which is a very nice restaurant with a cigar lounge. We had some AMAZING bottles of wine (thanx Jack) and some good food. Service was a little spotty but we didn't let that detract from our fun time. The Mrs. and I got to sit and listen to a very education discussion between Marc and Bob and Dale over the cigar industry in general and the current state of affairs with Leaf south of the border. I have no idea what the guys at the other end of the table were talking about but I'm sure it was good. Bob and Dale know their stuff and it was nice getting to hear them learn a lot from one of the best guys in the biz, Marc. Dinner was great, everybody was full and full of wine so then we headed to the Cigar lounge a few hundred feet away... that's where the real fun started.

So we all get in there and Cigars are passed around like mad and some AMAZING cigars are lit up. We did an entire table puff puff pass with a:
Dunhill Cabinetta
Davidoff Chateau LaTour
H. Upmann Club Epicur
Habanos Festival 2000 Mareva
1985 Montecristo #2
as well as numerous other cigars that I don't remember. However it was an killer time and the smokes were amazing. After this and SoCal I'm really getting spoiled as to what I smoke. At one point Mark (HavanaAddict) did a double barrell pull from the Festival 2000 and the Club Epicur and mixed the flavors together... it was surreal. So this obviously started off a whole chain of events and people started smoking 2 REALLY old and vintage cigars at the same time to see how it tasted. It was a hell of a lot of fun.

Drinks were ordered and Echo tried to see if the restaurant had any blankets because she was cold, however we came up short and the little asian bartender dude laughed at me when I asked for one LOL. Good smokes, good drinks, great company and just all in all a rockin' good time. 

After a few hours of that we all went our seperate ways and Echo and I as well as Gabe and Gerry (who bummed a ride hehe) headed back downtown to turn in for the night.

End of day #2.


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Day 3 - Shit is that the phone again? LOL

So once again since we all turned in so late we wake up late again just in time for lunch. We get ready and give Gabe and Gerry a call. They're already uptown near Caesar's where we're all supposed to meet up later that day for HERF'ing at Casa Fuente. So we tell them we'll meet them at Caesar's for lunch.

Traffic sucks, and it takes us forever to get there. We finally make it to the valet and then trek our happy asses across the Forum Shops at Caesar's (which if you don't know is freakin' HUGE) and then like 30 minutes later we sit down with Gabe and Gerry for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We have some awesome conversations with those guys as well as discuss the finer points of ClubStogie and things we would like to see happen with the board and just generally have a great time. Its always fun to hang out with those guys... except when you order a Pepsi.. then Gabe gives you the evil eye hehe.

So we finish up lunch and head over to Casa Fuente for some awesome HERF'ing with the boys. All the usual guys are there as well as some new faces. Freddy (Rockstar) and his wife are hanging out, Mark (N2Adventure) the man behind Cigarmony, Craig (KurtsDesign1) is also chilling, as well as..... HOLY SH*T!!! Can it be??? Yep, the 2 main dudes of ClubStogie!!!! PDS and RDS.... Paul and Rob. These guys are the lifeforce behind ClubStogie and it was truly an honor to meet them. I couldn't believe I was sitting next to them.... HOLY Mother of GOD! Some amazing sticks were passed around and smoked and gifted. Got some awesome stuff from Freddy, thank you bro, I had a great time hanging out and we'll definitely have to do it again. Also got some good stuff from Craig, big props to you and all the VCC boys. Got some more amazing stuff from Mark (N2Adventure) thank you and your wife for all you've done. It was great to finally get to meet you.

So Echo went to start shopping at Victoria's Secret and then another great Puff Puff Pass broke out with a 1970 Boli Tubos and a Dunhill Atado!!! Yeah it was a great time! I'm telling you, I've smoked more vintage, aged, rare, and collectible cigars in the past month than regular cigars this entire year ROFL. It was truly killer. We drank some drinks (Mojito's for me) shared some stories and talked with the nice wait staff at Casa Fuente. Then Echo and I got called away to run an errand for one of the people at the RTDA show so we left a little early and made our way to Home Depot.

For the next 2 hours we negotiated our way through the Las Vegas Strip traffic to Home Depot, picked up some supplies and then dropped them off at Bally's. We then headed back to Downtown as Kelly (Poker) had just landed.

Now if you've never HERF'd with Poker, let me tell you, its an experience. Its amazing to sit down with such a nice, generous, humble guy and realize that he is one of the most well respected members of the entire cigar community. Amazingly enough he's only a member of 2 boards but everyone knows his name. Even guys at other boards that *loathe* ClubStogie speak highly about Poker. He is a Cigar Community GIANT and truly one of the nicest guys you'll meet.

So we meet up with Poker at the Fitzgerald Casino where he is already knee deep in serious action at the Craps table. Now I'm not much of a gambler, so I don't, but Echo seems to be pretty lucky. So Poker, being the generous guy that he is, sponsors her a spot at the Craps table and away they go. He is teaching her the intricacies of Craps at the same time as she's placing bets and rolling the dice. She does decent for a beginner and in the end comes out on top and walks away with more money than she started with. It was a hell of a fun time.

Then we head back to Poker's room and sit and chat for a little while discussing life and cigars and ClubStogie. We decide, damnitt, we're hungry so once again we head over to the Binon's SteakHouse for more yummy food. We have a nice LONG dinner discussing life, our past, people in general and just have an all around great time. Poker is really one of the coolest cats to hang out with. Finally we notice that there's not too many people left in the restaurant (its really late... or early... or whatever) so we head back to the Casino for some more gambling.

We play a little here and there and just generally talk and have a good time. An hour or so later Echo heads off to bed and Poker and I sit down to have some more cigars and just chit chat. We sat at a bank of slot machines and just slowly whittled away our money while smoking Davidoff's. We talked about a number of things but had the types of conversations that your really enjoy because of their sincerity. It was a good time. So again as the sun threatened to come up on us we headed back to bed for a couple hours of sleep before gearing up for the big show.... the RTDA.

End Day 3.


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Day 4 or what I like to call "The Day I learned more about the Cigar Industry than anytime else". 

The BIG Show. The Cigar event to end all events. Forget the Big Smoke and all that crap.... THIS is it!

There won't be a lot to this post specifically, mainly because there is so much to tell and so much to be said about what I learned, who I got to meet, and the experiences I had... that this story is best told in person. So if you want to hear it... you'll have to hear it that way 

Overall, we woke up, fought traffic to get there, stood in line for what must have been the better part of a century and finally got into the show.

It was the most amazing cigar experience I've ever had. Thanx to the people who made it possible. Sincerely, thank you.

I saw everything from the big dog brands (CAO, Torano, Graycliff, Padron, etc) new releases and special smokes to smaller independant companies. I sampled awesome cigars and complete crap cigars. I smoked fresh rolled Torano's hand rolled by a Torcedor to a Custom made (double Ligero) Fresh Rolled Graycliff Salamone rolled by none other than Abelitto Lara himself!!!!! It was super super good!

The overall experience was amazing. Got to talk shop with Paul and Shibota (PDS and RDS) again and it was so cool to hear their personal views on ClubStogie and the direction it is heading. It just reaffirms my views that ClubStogie is the best place on the net and I'm proud to call it my home. CS is family to me and these guys are the reason why.


Anyway long story short, because of circumstances beyond our control we had to head back to AZ early and was not able to attend the CAO Party with Tommy Lee  I was super bummed that I didn't get to go and even more bummed that I wasn't able to hook up with Galaga and some of the other San Diego Boys for the HERF. Sorry guys, had to leave early.


So there it is! What an amazing time! For the 1 or 2 of you who actually made the grueling choice to read through all this shit I thank you. All of the people mentioned above are amazing and I recommend a RG bump to each and every one of them. These are the guys that make the term "Brother of the Leaf" a part of the CS vernacular. 

So on that note, this is your friendly neighborhood X Man signing off.


Dustin
XXX


----------



## White97Jimmy (May 12, 2006)

Whew...Can I finally post now??!!

Dustin-
Sounds like you had a hell of a time. I attended all of those HERF's and RTDA through your experience (since I'm not sure I'll ever get to go!)

Thanks for the most excellent write-up. This is about as close to the real thing as I can get.


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Minor correction. Rob Shibata's handle is actually *RJS*. My bad.

Shibata is the shit!


----------



## jgros001 (Jun 14, 2005)

LasciviousXXX said:


> For the 1 or 2 of you who actually made the grueling choice to read through all this shit I thank you. All of the people mentioned above are amazing and I recommend a RG bump to each and every one of them. These are the guys that make the term "Brother of the Leaf" a part of the CS vernacular.


Had to take a couple of breaks but perservered and made it through. Great posts - thanks for sharing with us.


----------



## n2advnture (Aug 9, 2004)

It was DEFINITELY an awesome time indeed Dustin!

It was a great pleasure to finally meet you and Echo as well bro. Niccole and I didn't have a ton of time to actually have any "fun", so hanging with you guys on Sun was definitely a highlight.

Paul and Rob are great guys indeed! I had no idea they were going to be there either, so it was a cool treat. Especially, when you get to know people from the boards on a more personal level (what they do, where they live, etc...).

You did fail to mention the all the times you walked in ended up walking in circles around the RTDA. I think all the smoke clouded your sense of direction, I could SWEAR you passed by my booth about a dozen times  

It was cool to chill with Jack and Marc from Palio on Sunday evening as well. Top notch guys for sure.

Oh, you absolutely nailed it in regards to Poker (Kelly) as well! Couldn't have met a nicer guy!

Can't wait until next year's in Houston!

~M


----------



## Blue Dragon (Oct 17, 2005)

n2advnture said:


> You did fail to mention the all the times you walked in ended up walking in circles around the RTDA. I think all the smoke clouded your sense of direction, I could SWEAR you passed by my booth about a dozen times


You know, I think he was just trying to pick up a bunch of free stuff 3 or 4 or 5 .. times to try and fill that nice new humidor of his. 

I'm jealous!  I really want to hook up with you and Gabe and Gerry again! It sounds like a hell of a time, and even though next year's RTDA will be in Houston, I think I will have to go. I'm not sure how I'll get there yet... but I'm sure it will work out. I'm really glad that you and Mrs. XXX had a blast together! Congrats!

- C


----------



## longashes (Nov 16, 2005)

Damn nice review....Thanks for the report, and hope to see you there next year!!


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Thanx guys!

Cory, its good to hear from you again bro! I was wondering how you were doing. I tried to register over at CP to say thanx but my registration was denied... who knows, maybe they don't like me

We'll have to catch up bro, its been to long since we chatted.

XXX


----------



## Dogwatch Dale-cl (Sep 7, 2005)

Talk about the wonderful cigar community! Dustin laid it all out better then I could have. Thanks for the wrap up bro.

I feel blessed just getting to meet and smoke with everyone. Talk about an education! Everyone I met were just flat out great & generous people. I can't wait for the next opportunity to do it all again.


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Dale, it was truly awesome to meet you. I enjoyed all the conversation that went on during dinner at the Range. I learned so much!

It was truly a pleasure talking shop with you and Bob. Thanx again for the shoutout on your show. 

You remember that 100% Costa Rican cigar we were discussing at the show? I was thinking about the flavor and the texture of the smoke a few days later and it dawned on me.... the flavor was eerily similar to that of a Boli CG. The flavor was escaping me when I tried it. I was thrown off because it was unlike any of the NC's I had previeously tried. Good flavor and like you said, a very good price point.

XXX


----------



## gorob23 (May 21, 2005)

Dustin I for one feel bad that you didn't have a very good time in Vegas:r 

Thanks for the post.
Rob


----------



## Cigar Jockey (Feb 12, 2006)

Wow:dr Can I have the cliff note version :al


----------



## Dogwatch Dale-cl (Sep 7, 2005)

LasciviousXXX said:


> You remember that 100% Costa Rican cigar we were discussing at the show? I was thinking about the flavor and the texture of the smoke a few days later and it dawned on me.... the flavor was eerily similar to that of a Boli CG. The flavor was escaping me when I tried it. I was thrown off because it was unlike any of the NC's I had previeously tried. Good flavor and like you said, a very good price point.
> 
> XXX


I'm anxious to get ahold of some more of those. When I do, I'll have to pull out a Boli CG to compare it to - you've got me very curious now.

It was the Bucanero Treasures. It's a NC that I believe many who smoke mainly Cuban cigars will find very, very good.


----------

